2nd set is HEAT

The Dead are known for their consistently inconsistent performances of various songs which makes it hard to get a consensus on "the perfect show". However, this one definitely deserves to be in the consideration, depending on mood and personal song favorites.

Song selection overall is great and the performances are remarkably even. The band plays very cohesively throughout and the audience is clearly, um, entranced! China>Rider certainly a gem as it almost always is...

But the Althea though!!!!! This is worth coming back to for the Althea alone. Play. Shed a tear for true artistic perfection. Repeat.

As noted by others, there are several different recordings of this available, but if you dig this version, as I do, then I would highly recommend searching out the remastered cut that was released from Amazon on the Long Strange Trip compilation. The remastered version is *absolutely* killer - with every note clear as a bell and Jerry's voice is perfect. I spent the money to buy it, and when played on my JBLs it sounds like the show is happening in my living room. This may be the closest that I ever come to time travel.

King Biscuit Flower hour recorded to multi-track, did a quick mix, pressed to vinyl and mailed to FM stations for a near-simultaneous broadcast (June 22 for this show). Of course aired segments were commonly traded (albeit fragments), and they also covered shows in '76, '77, '78, '79, another in '80, and a two-parter from NYE '87. Most of these showed up as bootleg vinyl as well, the last one being most common.

First Set. They open with the previous night's closer! The beginning is cut on the SBD and Jer switches the last two verses. Great version but too bad we don't have the multis of this and Promised Land. The intro to High Time is different, better, and Minglewood is fantastic. But, Ramble on Rose is off kilter and flat (even after the pitch correction). Just one "oops" and then it gets hotter and hotter. The Rider is not exactly like any other; the second solo a mindblower.

Second Set. Some of the Go to Heaven songs had been woodshedded to rote, and Stranger has a by-the-numbers feel that's suggestive of some of '69, but this is still just about perfect. Althea may not be the absolute best one of '80, but it's solid and with great Jer. The arrangements of Lost Sailor & Saint were still a bit stilted but the playing is tighter than a high tide clam. I would argue there's no better Eyes in '80. Mickey stays for Space on this tour, into an active Truckin' with Brent killing it on organ. The next few are the lesser part of the set. Bobby bails out fast (and perfectly) to Around. But how fun is this: Jer gets back at Bobby crashing out of Dew by crashing into a 2nd Berry - which Bobby then has to sing.

1st Set:   B-
2nd Set: A-
Overall = 4 stars

Highlights:
New Minglewood Blues - classic version
China>Rider - stellar Rider with second solo mindblower
The whole sequence from Feel Like a Stranger through Eyes of the World - astounding playing, especially Eyes
Truckin' - wit da interactive

SOURCES: The two clugston SBDs are best but need pitch correction of +1% for all but Ramble through Rider, which need +2%. Conversely, the Wise and Cousin It AUDs run way too fast. The Dusborne matrix is best for: Alabama and Promised Land, where the mix isn't settled yet, for the composites on Around>JBG, and the Brokedown encore (for which there's AUD; the SBD doesn't circulate and the KBFH/FM source is mixed poorly). The Johnny B. Goode is AUD-only (also on the Dusborne source) and has the worst pitch ever, needing -6%! KBFH sources have Alabama>Promised Land, Stranger, Althea, Minglewood, and Brokedown. The frequencies are flattened for FM and sources are usually pitched fast. The others on KBFH are from the night before. Go to Nassau has half of the show, with jumbled order and track segues.

the release 'Go to Nassau' did NOT use the Bands 'board tapes. These shows were on national Radio as part of 'The King Biscuit Flour Hour.' They were recorded to mullti track by 'King Biscuit. They( Biscuit) have released numerous recordings. Note the DEAD were also featured on King Biscuit in Nov of 77 as well

C. doubledose is correct about 5/8 and 9/2 which along with 9/6 are the best of the eighties. Greeks '81 are the next best thing.

5/16 featured Go To Heaven material played flawlessly. Here you get Eyes and the Dew which are fine for eighties Dead. Morning Dew at that point was rare and a Nassau crowd then was wasted.

I was there. Don't remember a thing except that Jerry broke a string during Eyes of the World.

This was my first Morning Dew (i think it took 25-30 shows to see it), but the show wasn't THAT great. The first 1/2 of the second set was all "Go To Heaven", which they had been overplaying like crazy this tour. So that part of the show was quite boring if you had already seen part of the tour.

I went to this and this Morning Dew blew the doors off the place - People were talking about it outside hours later, and this is one song guys from this absolutely over the top show one of the best I ever saw. Althea, ChinaRider it's all waiting for you so listen up.

10/14/80 Has a great dew as well, Hartford is also a beut from this tour as is Penn State & especially Glens Falls. 9/2/80 Rochester is spectacular and prob the best of the year.

Okay, so I can't complain too loudly now that my all-time favorite version of Althea, featuring a closing jam that is somehow both supremely chill and electrifying at the same time, is available on an official release, but ... where is the Brokedown Palace encore?

I used to have an old analog copy of parts of this show that had been taped off a radio show called the King Biscuit Flour Hour. The show was incomplete and the setlist chopped up, but it included a gorgeous, transcendent Brokedown that I would love to hear again some day.

Roughly half of this show appears on Go To Nassau. This is a pretty decent mix, is it from the multi-track source or straight soundboard? Either way, it's still not as good as the sound on GTN, which has some of the BEST sound quality of any official release from Grateful Dead Music. If you like the band at all, especially this period, get GTN, which is a truly excellent representation of the band during this period when many good recordings simply don't exist. Get Dead Set for the bonus stuff, but listen to the original and try to count how many songs have been chopped. Plus, the sound on GTN is simply far and away better than Dead Set. Also, get DP5 which has its detractors but once again is a good show with moments of greatness and excellent sound. The main problem with Go To Nassau that I can see is the situation with Alabama Getaway on disc 2. I think I understand why they placed it where they did, due to time constraints, etc., but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't quite work in that spot. If you've heard the release, you know what I'm talking about. Still, I think they tried to draw from the best of the 2-night run available on multi-track to put together GTN. If you listen to this, you'll hear what didn't make the cut. This is a pretty decent Eyes, nothing spectacular, but it would've been nice if they could have kept this--actually, kept the Terrapin which is better and is from the 15th, which is what they used--and left Alabama in the encore slot where it was really played. Maybe they ran out of room on the CD. As far as this Morning Dew, it isn't the best, it isn't even really that good. This is only the 3rd Dew they had played in as many years, and the rust shows. It's hardly majestic. The best versions are from pre-retirement, in my opinion, but Jerry could conjure up a good one in the later years, this just isn't one.

Been waiting for this one. We took a school bus up from Long Branch, NJ packed with stoners and got ripped on the way up. When we got to Nassau for the third of three nights had high hopes and were rewarded with the best night musically although I did a whole hit of 4 way by mistake and which hit as we were sitting down and it wasnt until the middle of morning dew I could form more than a two word sentance. While my ability to speak was impaired, the ability to enjoy a high energy classic rowdy east coast show was not affected. Listen to the crowd throughout.

Still remember high time (one of the few times seen this) ramble on rose and the awesome china>rider to end the first set. Althea, lost>saint eyes the whole show was really good. Enjoy!

Here are pictures http://www.photog.com/gdead/80s/May80Tour.html

Thank you, thank you